


Katas and Kio

by WyattShepard



Series: Dungeons and Dragons [10]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-07 17:53:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15224624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WyattShepard/pseuds/WyattShepard





	1. Katas

                The fire crackled and popped as a man threw another log unceremoniously on it. Across from him a young woman sat cross-legged and eyed him curiously.

            “You said you wanted to talk to me, Pops,” the woman raised an eyebrow.

            “Kio I told you, I’m only a couple years older then you,” he responded flatly as he sat down heavily and dropped the head of his massive axe into the dirt beside him. Kio rolled her eyes and bit the tip off a strawberry.

            “Still old,” she muttered under her breath, earning a glare from the man.

            “What, did you forget what you wanted to talk about? I knew a _really_ old guy once who would forget everything just like you, but he –” She was cut off when the man bopped her upside the back of her head.

            “Ouch! You know, that hurts when you still have your armor on,” She shot back angrily.

            “That’s why I did it,” He told her, beginning to undo his plate armor.

            “I thought it’s time that you should know about my past,” Katas said after a moment. When she opened her mouth to protest he held up a massive gauntleted hand.

            “Just listen,” he told her. She frowned but waited for him to continue.

            “Two or Three years ago, I was part of the war between Lumia and Thessia, two rivaling nations to the east. I was fresh out of boot camp, part of the 4th Infantry Division. I served under a brilliant woman, one who could do anything, and the things she couldn't do you would still believe that she could,” He paused and chuckled sadly, “Maybe that’s why it happened.”

            Kio glanced over from the strawberry she was halfway through and found a very sad look on her companion’s face. She tossed the strawberry aside and leaned forwards, now very interested in his story. The girl had only ever seen grim determination on his face, but sadness was a huge difference. He finished undoing the gauntlets and tossed them over by his sleeping bag. He paused as if in deep-thought, then reached into his pack and tossed her something from it. She caught the bottle and turned it over in her hands.

            “Awe, you shouldn’t have,” She said, struggling to get the cork off the strawberry wine. He watched her struggle for a couple seconds before reaching over to take the bottle away from the protesting woman. He took out a dagger and stabbed the tip into the cork to twist it off, then handed the bottle back to her.

            “Thanks, old man,” she said making him sigh again. She wasted no time in starting to drink, the pair falling into silence.

            “Anyways, this one time our unit was supposed to hold this place called Crystal Pass from the Lumans,” He paused here to take a swig from the bottle that Kio offered. He nodded his thanks.

            “Three days we held that pass. Three long, bloody days. The best part was that we were bait. When they sent the main force of their army against us, Thessian mages collapsed it on top of them, and us,” He said. She could hear the bitterness in his voice, the regret that maybe he could have done something. She took another drink and placed her hand on his shoulder.

            “So, they betrayed you,” she asked. He nodded to her.

            “They did. Once the main force of the enemy was routed through that narrow pass it didn’t matter if they lost a couple grunts like us,” he explained. The flames that danced over his face somehow highlighting the sadness there. The paladin took a deep breath and nodded his head and closed his eyes.

            “The squad leader – Jane Shepard, finest woman I will ever serve under – yelled for us to scatter, or at least what was left of us at that point to scatter,” His voice broke on the last syllable and he took a moment to regain his composure. The samurai simply watched and waited for him to continue. She had never seen emotion like this from Katas. She had honestly thought he had cut that part of his emotions off a long time ago.

            “I have no idea where they are now, or if any of them are still alive, but I will find them,” He said, fire lighting behind his steel eyes. He almost looked like he was finished, but turned back to her, determined.

            “Okay, look, you can’t mention this to anyone we meet,” He started rolling up the sleeve of his right arm. Kio watched as several lines of gibberish revealed themselves to be burned into his upper arm.

            “What even is that shit,” she asked before taking another drink.

            “This”, he said glancing at the writing, “Is Infernal.” Kio nearly spat out her mouthful of wine.

            “Katas, why do you have devil writing burned into your skin,” she asked at length.

            “After the betrayal, and I mean directly after it I was running for the most part. I was hunted for a day until I managed to find someone in a nearby village to hide me. Seems the mages weren’t too keen on letting someone who knew the truth escape,” He began, taking the now offered bottle of wine. He took a swig and handed it back to her.

            “This one family, little farm outside the main village, I staggered up to them my armor covered in scorch marks and splattered in blood in several places. They rushed to my side and let me stay in the barn. They _helped_ me,” He continued, “cared for me like I was their sick son.” He felt sick.

            “Katas, are you alright,” she asked after a moment.

            “This has to be done,” He stated, more to himself then her, “After another two days of rest, the mages caught up to me. They… Burned the field and house, killed the family.”

Kio’s eyes widened but she didn’t interrupt.

            “Heh, can you imagine it,” He asked chuckling sadly, “the pain, anger, and oh gods the _rage_ that swelled inside me until I couldn’t see straight. I cried out for _anyone, anything_ to give me the power to right this,” he paused, “maybe right isn’t the correct word exactly. What I wanted was to make them pay.”

            “I got my wish. One of the gods of war answered my pleas, I’m not sure if he took pity on me, or could just see how much I wanted them dead, but he gave me that power. The pain of having the infernal branded into my arm and the power given to me at once is what turned my hair white by the way,” Katas explained, “and I did it. I slaughtered every single person that had been in those two units they sent to kill me.”

            “But why do you look so scared,” Kio asked. Katas jumped in surprise of her question, not noticing that a tear had rolled down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away.

            “I enjoyed it Kio,” He whispered, “I’ve never _enjoyed_ war before, but every scream from them, every time I swung my axe, every _bloody time I would kill one of them I saw the will to fight dwindle in the eyes of his comrades_ , and everything about it I couldn’t get enough of.”

            Kio listened until the end and gently placed the bottle on the ground, stood up and walked behind Katas, and draped her arms around his neck. She rested her chin on the top of his head, his hair smelling of steel made her smile. She didn’t say anything, but neither did he. The two of them sat like that for a while, listening to the fire. Eventually she leaned over him until their eyes met and kissed his forehead.

            “Thanks for listening Kio, I’ve never told anyone this,” He said. She could feel him relax then, and pulled herself up and returned to her bottle.

            “You don’t have to thank me, Pops. I’m here anytime,” She said, taking another drink. Several minutes passed in silence before Kio spoke up.

            “This might be hard… But you should know about my past too,” She began. He simply raised an eyebrow in response.

 


	2. Kio

“You don’t have to thank me, Pops. I’m here anytime,” She said, taking another drink. Several minutes passed in silence before Kio spoke up.

            “This might be hard… But you should know about my past too,” She began. He simply raised an eyebrow in response.

            "Here, I have an idea," She suddenly piped up, digging through her bag. She eventually brought her hand out holding a small leather bag tied at the top with string.

            "My grandfather always used to use this to tell me about his travels, it is magic based just so you know," She explained, opening the sack and pinching what looked like glowing purple sand from it. She held it over their fire and sprinkled it into the flames, turning them purple almost instantly.

            "I have to concentrate on the memory for it to work, so give me a moment and let your mind go blank," she said. She closed her eyes, Katas shrugged his massive shoulders and did the same. After a couple minutes he was about to open his mouth and ask why nothing was happening, but his mind was flooded with images, feelings, and thoughts all at once to the point he couldn't tell up from down.

            _Her first memories were so saturated with lessons and teachings that she was convinced she was taught how to hold a sword before she was taught how to speak. Though, she was able to use her voice so little within the order that she might have well not been taught how to speak at all. Before she was even able to take her first breath her life had already been decided for her. Every long, exhausting day of training throughly planned. She was not the only one, there were plenty of children just like her in the Samurai order, their faces forgotten and their voices silent. They were to be perfect, sold to royalty and the rich alike as personal bodyguards._

_And she WAS perfect. She followed every order, every lesson from her masters. She was not born a natural, far from it, but she would be damned if she failed at her only purpose in life. She fought hard, and with every cut, bruise, and beating she never cried. Not in front of them, not in front of anyone. She was so littered with cuts and bruises that the ones that had been self-inflicted blended right in._

_The hardest battles fought are with oneself, after all._

Katas frowned. He still remembered her sometimes: dark-red hair plastered to her neck, her lips the color of blueberries, the sound of water rushing to his right. He tried harder to concentrate on Kio’s memories instead.

_On her thirteenth birthday, she was told she had a visitor, an older man that her father refused to look in the eye. He kneeled down in front of her with a smile on his worn face. She was shocked, for he was the first one to ever smile at her. The next day she woke to find the old man had replaced her masters and was to teach her himself. Her Grandfather._

_Life was much different all of a sudden, as if the shackles on her wrists had loosened only slightly. Lessons once taught with brutality and stern faces were now taught with care and warmth. In the pressence of her grandfather, the grey halls of the order seemed a little brighter. For the first time, she felt as if she could breath and speak._

            _Her Grandfather taught her was much more to life then winning battles, more places to visit, many kinds of food to try, and even more people to meet. His tales of the world outside enchanted her, and she found herself longing to see this world beyond the walls with her own eyes. The Order’s walls seemed so dull in comparison to the stories her grandfather painted for her. For the first time her heart was filled to the top with happiness._

Katas smiled, with his eyes still closed.

_Hope filled her so much that she could hardly eat. On her nineteenth birthday, two swords that felt lighter then air were handed to her, and her grandfather ruffled her hair affectionately his warm voice brimming with respect. He was proud of her, and for the first time she cried in the presence of another._

_Out of every lesson she had been taught, how to snap bones, where to cut, how to still a beating heart, the cruelest lesson she ever learned was that all good things must come to an end. Her grandfather’s story ended with a splash of crimson across the wooden floor, as if clumsy painters had shattered their jar of paint against the ground. No attacker in sight, just a pale hand outstretched._

_Pleading._

_She was the first to find him, and she stayed frozen in the doorway for what felt like an eternity. Cold unseeing eyes looking her way, through her, into the hallway behind her. When she finally could feel her body again, she knelt beside his corpse, and with as much grace and carefulness that she could muster, rolled his body onto its back, examining the wound that silenced his breath. Three silver daggers glinting maliciously in the low light, coated in crimson._

_She turned to the sound of footsteps from the doorway and turned to see the cold, grey eyes of her father. He stood impassively, his hand resting on the doorframe._

_“For this is life, daughter,” he said simply, turning on his heel back into the darkness of the hallway._

_When he was gone she turned back to her grandfather and leaned down to kiss his forehead. She closed his eyes with a gentle sweep of her fingers._

_“This is not life, father. Not truly,” she replied to the dark hallway behind her. With her legs still numb she reached the open window of her grandfathers room. She leapt into the night, one of the silver daggers strapped to her belt, not once looking back._

The images faded, then the thoughts, and finally the feelings. The feeling of complete sorrow was the last one to fade from Katas’ mind. He opened his eyes to find tears streaming down Kio’s cheeks. Her eyes were still closed but she had her teeth clenched to choke the sound of sobbing. She sat unmoving for another minute or so before Katas pushed himself up. Kio opened her eyes to the feeling of large arms wrapping around her and she found Katas’ steel-grey eyes when she looked up.

            “Uh,” she began.

            “If you tell anyone about this, I will personally make sure you never see a bottle of strawberry wine again,” He cut her off. She was still for a moment before snuggling closer into his embrace.

            “Deal.” She laughed into his chest.


End file.
